The number of children recruited and used by armed groups in Haiti skyrocketed by nearly 200% last year, the United Nations’ leading child welfare agency said.

The surge reflects the growing reliance by criminal gangs on the exploitation of children amid the ongoing violence, UNICEF said Thursday.

The trend is particularly concerning as security forces intensify attacks in Port-au-Prince and a more lethal international force prepares to assist the country. The first military contingents of a newly U.N.-authorized “Gang Suppression Force” are expected to begin arriving in April.

“Children’s rights are non-negotiable,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Every child must be protected. And every child recruited or used by armed groups must be released and supported so they can heal, return to learning, and rebuild their future.”

Children account for over half of the more than 1.4 million Haitians who have been forced to flee their homes by armed gangs. They are at risk not just from the armed violence, but from natural disasters and extreme poverty — conditions that have fueled the growth of armed groups and increased forced recruitment.

UNICEF called on Haitian authorities to strengthen child-protection systems, ensure safe and sustained access to essential services, and reinforce family tracing and reunification support when it in a child’s best interests and can be done safely.

In a country where unemployment remains high and more than half the population doesn’t get enough to eat, children are often forced to join armed groups to help their families or after receiving threats. Others turn to armed groups as a means of survival and protection after being separated from families.

The plight of children in Haiti’s gang crisis has always worried child advocates in the country. Some have called for children’s recruitment by armed groups to be deemed a crime against humanity, while others have criticized the lack of government attention.

“Children we have known for years are now gang members,” said Becky Graves, who runs Haiti Awake, a local nonprofit. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Late last month, Graves visited CERMICOL, which is supposed to be a juvenile prison but counts adult men and women among its inmates. “I continue to be incredibly concerned about the number of minors incarcerated with a lack of forward movement on their cases,” she said. ”New juveniles are incarcerated on a regular basis with very little due process in place. I have seen with my own eyes the number of children in the streets growing month by month. Without family or other support systems, what choice do many children have if they are going to survive?”

During a hearing before a U.S. Senate appropriations committee on Wednesday, the U.S.’s top diplomat in Haiti, Henry Wooster, told lawmakers that in 2024, 34% of Haitian children aged 5-14 had to work, many of them for gangs.

“Haiti must create job opportunities to outcompete gangs for the long-term,” he said.

Austin Holmes, CEO of Caribbean Security, also testified about the situation of Haiti’s children. Some 1,600 schools closed during the 2024-25 academic year, he said, depriving 1.5 million children of an education.

The consequences have been severe and measurable, he added, and pointed to the consequences of U.S. aid cuts that have severely limited humanitarian assistance to children.

Recruitment and use of children by armed groups constitutes a grave violation of their rights, and enlisting children of any age into armed gangs is a breach of international law, UNICEF said.

“Recruitment into armed groups exposes children to multiple risks, including injury, maiming, or death in combat, sexual, psychological, and physical abuse, and arbitrary detention, while also disrupting their access to education, thereby undermining their safety, well-being, and overall development,” the agency said.

Anne-Rose Schoen, a German national who has been living in Haiti for 26 years, began working on a program to address the increasing numbers of child soldiers.

“When conflicts involving children end, the prospects for a lasting peace are hindered by large populations of psychologically scarred, demobilized child soldiers, whose reintegration into society will most likely fail, overlooked by the efforts aiming at the disarmament and reintegration of adult gang members,” she said. “It is of utmost importance to start as soon as possible with a strategic communication campaign targeting the general public as well as the children associated with gangs.”

She said the question of what to do about child soldiers once they turn 18 is often ignored.

“Without a clear path forward allowing them to learn a profession ... they will turn back and join or create new gangs and the cycle of violence will never end,” Schoen added. “One solution would be to create a ‘Youth Corps for Peace,’ similar to efforts done in other countries. This Youth Corps would be a viable option for other young adults as well, who otherwise would not have the opportunity to reach the life they dream of and hope for.”

In January 2024, Haiti’s government signed over a Handover Protocol to deal with child soldiers. Since then, more than 500 children associated with armed groups have been helped with protection and reintegration services.

“Children associated with armed groups must not be treated as perpetrators,” Russell., the UNICEF chief, said. “They must receive appropriate reintegration services and be protected from additional risks, stigma or retaliation.”

_____

©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.